Rewriting Basic Play for CN: Cribbage Part II

Disconnect: The Basics

The Players are the folks around the table playing the game. There are two types, the Game Master and everyone else. Everyone else is referred to as a Player and Players play Agents. The Game Master creates Missions and Scenarios, Narrates obstacles, calamities, and minor characters, and tries to weave the details created by the Players into a coherent story.

Agents are the protagonists of the story. Each Agent has been recruited by, and works for, a Mega-Corporation. Mega-Corporations are greedy, ambitious, and eternally obsessed with developing the Human Purchasing Unit, or HPU. HPU are the holy grail of Capitalist theory, able to reliably purchase what they are instructed to purchase. The first Meg-Corporation to develop the HPU will cement its power and ensure profits for generations.

Unlike most Role Playing Games, Agents do not work cooperatively for a common goal. They compete against, sabotage, and generally stick it the other Agents. In other words, the Agents are Adversaries. Disconnect is a Role Playing Game though, and the Players are responsible to cooperatively create a fun and interesting experience for all Players. Play aggressively, but with an eye for the entertaining. The Players are friends, even as the Agents are not!

Agents are defined by Skills, Aspects, Hang-Ups, and Special Training. These Characteristics are recorded in an Agent's Dossier, and shared only between the Player and the Game Master. Players also keep Dossiers of other Agents as Characteristics are Revealed in play.

There are 12 Skills broken into 3 types; Social, Physical, and Mental. Skills have a Rating from 0 to 3. Rating 0 represents no training or natural ability, while 3 represents amazing natural ability and advanced training. Skills also are broken up into Dice Sizes, from d6 to d12. The less risky to use, for both the Agent and their Adversaries, the smaller the Dice Size. The d12 is reserved for only the most hazardous endeavors!

Aspects are emotional quirks, weaknesses to be exploited. Every Agent has them and identifying them is a top priority. An Aspect's Rating is broken into two parts. The Strength of an Aspect is a number from 1, mild, to 3 strong. The Exposure of the Aspect is the number of other Agents the Aspect has been Revealed to. An Aspect's Rating is the sum of its Strength and Exposure.

Hang-Ups are neurosis and psychosis. They develop from extreme stress and emotionally duress. A Hang-Up's Rating is its Strength, and ranges form 1 to 3.

Both Aspects and Hang-Ups can be Exploited during Skill Tests. Aspects are Exploited by other Agents and Hang-Up's by the Agent themselves. Both can be general emotional Characteristics or they can be in Relationship to another Agent. If a Relationship Aspect or Hang-Up is being Exploited, the other Agent must be present in the Conflict!

Agents begin Play with both Aspects and Hang-Ups. They also result from the Consequences of Skill Tests and from Negotiating a Share at the end of a Scenario.

Special Training is advanced training blending exotic elements together to produce unorthodox methods. Special Training is unrated. Using Special Training allows the Agent to make an Aiding Test during a Skill Test.